Coast Guard says missing Cargo ship sank with 33 crew members on board

The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday it believes the cargo ship that went missing amid high winds from Hurricane Joaquin in the Bahamas last week has sank. Thirty-three people were on board the vessel at the time and one body has already been found.

But despite the grim news, authorities said rescuers would continue to search for survivors.

"It's still an active search and rescue," said Chief Petty Officer Bobby Nash, a Coast Guard spokesman, in Miami.

Overnight, two Coast Guard cutter ships searched for the 790-foot U.S.-based cargo ship known as El Faro. A C-130 aircraft was also launched at dawn, according to Nash. 

Searchers looking across a wide expanse of Atlantic Ocean near Crooked Island found debris over the weekend, including what appeared to be pieces of container. Searchers also spotted an oil sheen and found a life ring from the El Faro.

The El Faro departed from Jacksonville, Florida, on Sept. 29, when Joaquin was still a tropical storm. The ship had 28 crew members from the United States and five from Poland, and it was heading to Puerto Rico on a regular cargo supply run when it ran into trouble. Contact was lost early Thursday.

Joaquin battered the central Bahamas archipelago for more than two days with 130 miles per hour winds, a potentially catastrophic Category 4 hurricane on a scale of 1 to 5.

The crew reported that the ship had lost power, had taken on water and was listing 15 degrees but that the situation was "manageable," in their last communication on Thursday morning, according to ship owner TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico. They had not been heard from since.

Phil Greene, president and CEO of TOTE Services, Inc., said the captain had been observing the weather patterns and discussed the weather as the El Faro passed its sister ship going in the opposite direction.

"On Wednesday, he sent a message to the home office with the status of the developing tropical storm. He said he had very good weather ... and that his crew was prepared," Greene said.

Greene said the El Faro has been in service for many years and was built to work in the rough seas off Alaska. "She is a sturdy, rugged vessel that was well maintained and that the crew members were proud of," he said. 

Wire services